Potential ideas for setting up a franchise

When you start thinking of working for yourself, it is very important that what you choose to do is something that interests and enthuses you. Starting a franchise is certainly an excellent way of beginning your new life as a businesswoman.

Starting a franchise is certainly an excellent way of beginning your new life as a businesswoman and as long as you are able to finance it without too much borrowing, it is an excellent idea. As with other ideas you might come up with when you start thinking of working for yourself, it is very important that what you choose to do is something that interests and enthuses you. If you choose a franchise for the simple reason that you want to work for yourself, you will soon find that it becomes a chore not a pleasure and ‘going to work’ even if it is in the comfort of home, will soon become something you begin to dread.

So; what do you like doing? If you are into your crafts and artistic interests, there are lots of franchising opportunities in this sector. Because you have children, you might like to choose one which is child based and in this case you might like to consider something like pottery painting. This franchise business and others based around child art can be delivered either as set classes or as parties in others’ homes. Most franchise business ideas based around children are designed to give a slow start up so that you can grow the business without putting too many demands on your work-life balance in the early months. The franchise operators understand that you are likely to have children if you choose this kind of business.

If you need to have home based work because you have very small children who are too young to take to nursery, you might like to think about a franchise in which you will be a contractor, with staff that you send out to do the actual work. In practice, these franchise businesses are usually in the hygiene sector and can have quite a high start up cost, as there is usually at least one vehicle involved, which is bought or hired with the franchise. This in not usually negotiable as the van will carry the logo and is a very important part of the marketing. If you opt for a business franchise which is based around workplace cleaning, you could probably do this in the evenings and so with a little thought to flexible work arrangements involving help with childcare, it could still be possible. Even so, working for yourself in this kind of franchise will take a long time to pay back your investment, which could be considerable.

If you have a specific skill you could take advantage of some of the franchising opportunities which are based on the delivery of training. These are quite specific, but if you have what the market needs, you could quickly build up quite a useful income and you could even work from home part time to deliver the product, if you have a suitable room in your house. With set up costs for a franchise usually moderately substantial, don’t be tempted to return to an area of employment you didn’t enjoy before you had children, just to make money – you want to be happy as well.